The Great White SharkIntroduction: The Great White Shark is one of the most fierce predators known to man. Carcharodon carcharias is the scientific name for this fearsome predator, and it is also known as great white, white pointer, white shark, or white death. The great white is a large lamniform shark found in coastal surface waters in all major oceans. The great white shark is notoriously huge. Many of these sharks have been found to exceed 6 metres (20 ft) in length, and over 2,268 kilograms (5,000 lb) in weight. The great white of an animal reaches maturity at around 15 years of age and on average has a 30 year life span. This shark is arguably the world's largest known extant macropredatory fish and is one of the dominant predators of marine animals.
Scientific Classification: Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Chondrichthyes Subclass: Elasmobranchii Order: Lamniformes Family: Lamnidae Genus: Carcharodon Species: C. carcharias
Habitat: The Great White is widely found in coastal surface waters in all major oceans. These sharks prefer water temperatures of around 12 - 24°C. The most densely populated area's of great whites are Australia, South Africa, California, New Zealand and the waters of the Mediterranean.
Eating Habits: Sharks predominantly eat other marine mammals. They go for animals with high contents of energy-rich fat. Great Whites eat most marine life including fish, stingray, seals, dolphins, whales and other sharks. Cannibalism is not unknown to these creatures as although they try to avoid conflict with each other the larger great whites have been known to feast on smaller specimens of their kind. The assumption that the great white is a blood thirsty killer is purely a myth, commonly known to have been started by the movie director Steven Spielberg when he created the film 'Jaws', that portrays the great white as a vicious man hunting monster. Aside from all this great whites have been known to attack humans especially those that they attack from below on and mistake them as a seal.
Adaptations: One of the reasons the great white is so deadly is not its extreme bite force or its size, but its extra sense given by the Ampullae of Lorenzini, which enables them to detect the electromagnetic field emitted by the movement of living animals. This enables them to sense an animal from miles away, giving the a huge edge over opponents. Every time a living creature moves it generates an electrical field and great whites are so sensitive they can detect half a billionth of a volt. Even heart beats emit a very faint electrical pulse. If close enough the shark can detect even that faint electrical pulse. Most fish have a less-developed but similar sense using their body's lateral line. The great white also has a bite force of 18, 000 newtons, which will absolutely crush any material they sink their teeth into.
The Great White Shark is one of the most fierce predators known to man. Carcharodon carcharias is the scientific name for this fearsome predator, and it is also known as great white, white pointer, white shark, or white death. The great white is a large lamniform shark found in coastal surface waters in all major oceans. The great white shark is notoriously huge. Many of these sharks have been found to exceed 6 metres (20 ft) in length, and over 2,268 kilograms (5,000 lb) in weight. The great white of an animal reaches maturity at around 15 years of age and on average has a 30 year life span. This shark is arguably the world's largest known extant macropredatory fish and is one of the dominant predators of marine animals.
Scientific Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Order: Lamniformes
Family: Lamnidae
Genus: Carcharodon
Species: C. carcharias
Habitat:
The Great White is widely found in coastal surface waters in all major oceans. These sharks prefer water temperatures of around 12 - 24°C. The most densely populated area's of great whites are Australia, South Africa, California, New Zealand and the waters of the Mediterranean.
Eating Habits:
Sharks predominantly eat other marine mammals. They go for animals with high contents of energy-rich fat. Great Whites eat most marine life including fish, stingray, seals, dolphins, whales and other sharks. Cannibalism is not unknown to these creatures as although they try to avoid conflict with each other the larger great whites have been known to feast on smaller specimens of their kind. The assumption that the great white is a blood thirsty killer is purely a myth, commonly known to have been started by the movie director Steven Spielberg when he created the film 'Jaws', that portrays the great white as a vicious man hunting monster. Aside from all this great whites have been known to attack humans especially those that they attack from below on and mistake them as a seal.
Adaptations:
One of the reasons the great white is so deadly is not its extreme bite force or its size, but its extra sense given by the Ampullae of Lorenzini, which enables them to detect the electromagnetic field emitted by the movement of living animals. This enables them to sense an animal from miles away, giving the a huge edge over opponents. Every time a living creature moves it generates an electrical field and great whites are so sensitive they can detect half a billionth of a volt. Even heart beats emit a very faint electrical pulse. If close enough the shark can detect even that faint electrical pulse. Most fish have a less-developed but similar sense using their body's lateral line. The great white also has a bite force of 18, 000 newtons, which will absolutely crush any material they sink their teeth into.